At Home and Abroad: Prosperity and Depression

1. At Home and Abroad: Prosperity and Depression 1917-1940

2. Objective The 1920s have been characterized as a decade of economic, social, and cultural change. Analyze the extent to which the First World War and consumerism affected United States society during this period.

3. War and Prosperity: 1917-1929 • The 1920’s were a time of many changes in the economic and social aspects of life in the US • Following WWI, the US struggled to return to what President Harding called “normalcy” • However the impact of the war, the new age of consumerism, the automobile and the growth of suburbs contributed to the creation of a different and new national lifestyle

4. War and Prosperity: 1917-1929 • While transportation and communications technology served to unite the nation, a clash of values between the new urban-centered life and the legacy of the traditional rural life caused uneasiness and conflict • In addition, all Americans did not share in the good times • Beneath the surface was an economy with structural flaws that brought the Roaring Twenties to an abrupt end with the stock market crash in October 1929

5. The Big Idea In the 1920’s • The American people attempted to return to “normalcy” in foreign and domestic affairs • New technologies created a consumer goods economy based on mass consumption • The nation became increasingly urbanized, modernized and commercialized • American society was unsettled by these rapid economic, social and cultural changes • Tensions developed between new and traditional lifestyles, nativism resurfaced • A boom economy was not shared by all Americans and it came to an end with the 1929 stock market crash

6. The Impact and Aftermath of War

7. The Impact and Aftermath of War

8. The Impact and Aftermath of War • World War I triggered a number of important changes in American society, most notably for some women and for many immigrants and African Americans • Some changes were subtle and gradual while others were immediate and dramatic

9. Effects on Women and Minorities • As many men went off to fight in Europe, the roles and responsibilities of women were affected • Their family responsibilities increased • They contributed to the war effort as volunteers • Some women went to work in male-dominated fields, such as weapons factories • Many women served overseas with the Red Cross and the Salvation Army

10. Effects on Women and Minorities • Most, however, worked in traditionally female jobs, for which there was an increased demand • Only about five percent of the women entering the wartime workforce were new to work outside the home • At war’s end, with the return of male workers, women were expected to quit their jobs or return to more traditional female work • Between 1910 and 1920, only 500,000 more women were added to the workplace

11. Effects on Women and Minorities • The war had harsh consequences for immigrant families • Further immigration to the US came to a halt • About 18 percent of the American troops were foreign-born • Yet, many immigrant families already in the country faced fierce social and job discrimination in an antiforeigner climate whipped up the war • Most African American civil rights leaders supported WWI, and some 400,000 African American troops served in it • African American soldiers were assigned to segregated units that often worked as laborers • Discrimination was common

12. Effects on Women and Minorities • Where they saw combat, African American soldiers served with distinction • Several African Americans regiments fighting alongside of French troops were honored by the nation • Many returning African American soldiers questioned why the liberties and freedoms they had fought to preserve in Europe were denied them in their own country

13. Migration to the North

14. Migration to the North • WWI accelerated the migration of African Americans to northern cities • This migration began after the Civil War • From about 1910 to 1920, southern agricultural jobs were lost to floods and to crop damage • About 500,000 African Americans moved from the South to jobs in the industrial North • Meanwhile, in the North, workers were needed to meet war production goals • The flow of immigrant labor was ended by the fighting, creating an additional need for workers to replace those in uniform

15. Migration to the North • After the war, this Great Migration continued • Between 1910 and 1930 and again in the 1940’s, almost 2 million African Americans left the South • Although they were usually able to improve their economic situation, they were still faced with discrimination and segregation • Competition for jobs and housing produced racial tensions that at times led to individual violence and riots

16. The “Return to Normalcy,” 1918-1921 • After WWI, disillusioned Americans wanted to return to the traditional foreign policy of isolationism • The 1920 landslide election of Republican President Warren G. Harding and VP Calvin Coolidge represented the desire of many Americans to remove themselves from the pressures of world politics and idealistic goals of the Progressives • While Progressivism continued, it was at a slower pace and reforms took place largely at the state and local levels

17. The 1920’s: Business Boom or False Prosperity? For many Americans, postwar did return to normalcy. Yet beneath the surface, troubling political and economic problems had begun to develop Greed and Scandal Under Harding • Harding was an Ohio newspaper publisher with little experience in politics. Historians credit him for pardoning socialist Eugene V. Debs (who had been jailed for opposing the war) and for supporting antilynching legislation. Harding appointed some dedicated people to office, including Charles Evans Hughes as secretary of state • However, the president also gave political jobs to members of the so-called Ohio Gang, corrupt associates who took advantage of him. After Harding’s death in 1923, the public learned of several scandals during his administration

18. Greed and Scandal Under Harding • Theft: The head of Veterans Bureau was convicted of selling hospital supplies for his own profit. He was imprisoned and fined • Fraud: The Alien Property Custodian was imprisoned for selling former German property for private profit • The Teapot Dome Scandal: Secretary of the Interior Albert Fall was convicted of accepting bribes from two oil executives in exchange for allowing them to lease government-owned petroleum reserves. One of the oil fields was at Teapot Dome, Wyoming

19. “The business of America is business”

20. Under Coolidge, Prosperity for Some • Calvin Coolidge became president when Harding died in office in 1923 • In the 1924 election, Coolidge was returned to office • Coolidge is best known for his laissez-faire approach to the economy and his strong commitment to business interests • Coolidge retained financier Andrew Mellon as Secretary of Treasury • Mellon acted on the philosophy that government’s role was to serve business

21. Under Coolidge, Prosperity for Some Recession Recovery • The end of WWI was followed by a recession caused by the shift from a wartime to a peacetime economy • Production, farm income, and exports fell • Unemployment rose, reaching 11.7 percent in 1921 • For farmers, in particular, hardship continued throughout the decade • In other sectors of the economy, however, a period of economic recovery had begun by 1923, when Coolidge became President • The years between 1923 and 1929 were seen as a time of booming business • The Gross National Product (GNP) rose 40% • Per capita income went up 30% • With little inflation, actual purchasing power – and therefore the standard of living – increased • At the time, few people questioned this Coolidge prosperity

22. Pro-Business Policies Some groups, especially big corporations and the wealthy, benefited greatly from Coolidge prosperity. For example: Business and the wealthiest citizens were helped by tax laws that reduced personal income tax rates, particularly for upper income groups, removed most excise taxed, and lowered corporate income taxes The government reduced the national debt and balanced the budget by raising tariffs and demanding repayment of war debts Tariff rates were raised in return to protectionism. Republicans argued that higher tariffs would limit foreign imports, thus protecting US industry and agriculture from foreign competition, but the actual effect was to weaken the world economy Regulatory agencies such as the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Trade Commission and the Interstate Commerce Commission were staffed with the people who saw their role as assisting business rather than regulating it A relaxed attitude toward corporate mergers was supported by the executive branch and by the Supreme Court. By 1929, about 1,300 corporations produced three fourths of all American manufactured goods, and 200 companies owned half of the nation’s wealth

23. Economic Boom Bypasses Other • Coolidge prosperity was not for everyone • Key Segments of the population failed to share in the general rise in living standards Labor • Strikes had dropped sharply during WWI, mainly because the Wilson government supported collective bargaining in return for a no-strike pledge • Membership in the AFL grew, and wages for was industry employees rose sharply • However, inflation wiped out any real gains in buying power

24. Labor • The 1920’s saw a reversal of any union gains • Strikes in the steel, mining and railroad industries, in part because the government used not only troops to end the strikes but also injunctions, which are court orders that prohibit specified actions • The Supreme Court also ruled against child labor laws and against minimum wages for women and children • In addition, some companies began to offer health and life insurance in hopes of lessening workers’ interest in unions • The strategy often worked – Membership in labor unions fell from a high of about 5 million in 1921 to under 3.5 million in 1929

25. Labor • While the labor movement weakened in the 1920s, conditions improved for many workers • After 1923, unemployment averaged 5% or less • Worker productivity rose over 40% • In general, however, real wages of workers increased only slightly during this period , boosted primarily by wages of workers in the new industries such as communications and automobile manufacturing • This situation meant that they could not afford to buy many of the new consumer goods

26. Farmers • The only farmers to benefit from Coolidge prosperity were those involved in large commercial operations • Small farmers were hurt by a combination of factors

27. Farmers • Farmers expanded production during WWI in response to rising prices and the demand for food. They added to their acreage and brought more farm machinery • New machinery and new farm techniques increased farmers’ crop yield per acre • After the was, when European farms began producing again, American farmers were growing too much. With overproduction the prices of both farm products and farmland decreased dramatically • Net farm income feel 50% during the 1920s. As farm income fell, many farmers lost their land when they could not make their mortgage payments. As a result, the number of farmers declined, too. By 1930, only about 20 percent of the labor force made a living farming

28. Economic Boom Bypasses Other Native Americans African Americans • During the 1920s, Native Americans had the highest unemployment rate of any group and the shortest average life span • Most lived on reservations, without the basics, such as heat and running water • African Americans who migrated to the North enjoyed a higher standard of living than in the South • However they still earned less than white workers and experienced a higher rate of unemployment

29. Stock Market Speculation • The economic recovery helped produce a surge of investment in the stock market • Optimistic business and government leaders saw no end to the boom • They encouraged everyone to play the bull market- that is, the rising stock market • Some families invested their life savings • The profits rolled in – for a while

30. Stock Market Speculation • Yet the new wealth flowed from a stock market with a deeply flawed structure • This meant that buyers could purchase stocks by making only a small down payments in cash – sometimes as low as 5% of the value of the stocks • They borrowed the rest from brokers and counted on their profits to repay the loans • The system worked as long as the profits continued

31. Mass Consumption • The 1920s were a time of mass consumption – huge quantities of manufactured goods were available, and many people had more money to spend on them

32. Effects of New Industries on American Life

33. Effects of New Industries on American Life

34. Effects of New Industries on American Life

35. Do Now CC Big Business PRAISE Based on these cartoons, what is the relationship between President Calvin Coolidge’s administration and big business in the 1920s?

36. Reviewing for the Regents Which is most commonly associated with the presidencies of Ulysses S. Grant and Warren G. Harding? • Depression • Corruption of public officials • Humanitarian reforms • Territorial expansion The “boom” years of the 1920s were characterized by • A decrease in both agriculture surpluses and farm foreclosures • Limited investment capital and declining numbers of workers in the labor force • Widespread use of the automobile and an increase in buying • Increased regulation of the marketplace by both federal and state governments

37. Role of Technology • Technology, combined with new marketing strategies, best explains the transformation of American society in the 1920s • Led by Henry Ford and the automobile industry, mass production and the moving assembly line resulted in uniform products produced at lower costs

38. Role of Technology • These new technologies made possible a consumer-oriented economy, one in which more goods, costing less, were available to more Americans • Encouraged by a boom in advertising, families spent a smaller portion of their income on necessitates and a larger proportion on new consumer goods such as appliances, radios, and ready-to-wear clothing • Often these goods were purchased over time though installment buying

39. Growing Cultural Homogenization • The new technology also made American culture more homogeneous, or uniform • Americans from one coast to the other tended to use the same products, wear the same styles, see the same movies, and listen to the same music • Regional and class differences were blurred, and individualism became less important than conformity

40. Suburban Growth • With over half the population living in places with populations of more than 2,500 people, the US in the 1920s was an urban rather than a rural nation for the first time in its history • Only the Great Depression ended the building boom that was part of this growth • The automobile made it possible to draw people to suburbs that grew faster than cities • New regional, political and economic units developed, resulting in the present-day conflict between urban and suburban needs, priorities and values

41. Shifting Cultural Values • During the 1920s, American society experienced a struggle with social change as it became an urban, industrial nation • Changes in lifestyle, values, morals, and manners increased tension and conflict • Wealth, possessions, having fun and sexual freedom – ideas influenced by psychology of Sigmund Freud – were the new values

42. Leisure • With a shorter work week and with more paid vacation, Americans had more leisure time • Movies such as The Ten Commandments and the first movie with sound, The Jazz Singer, drew millions of people a week to theaters during the 1920s • Americans idolized Charlie Chaplin and other movie stars • They also admired sports figures, such as Babe Ruth • After his 1927 solo transatlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh became an overnight hero • Listening to the radio and to records were two other popular pastimes • Games such as bridge, crossword puzzles, and the board game of mah-jongg swept the country

43. Leisure • The popular image of young women in the 1920s was the flapper, a young pretty woman with bobbed hair and raised hemlines • She drank alcohol, she smoked, and she thought for herself • The flapper was featured in movies, magazines, advertising and novels such as those of F. Scott Fitzgerald • The flapper was an expression of women's new sense of independence, a statement of change and even rebellion • As such, the flappers represented another example of traditional versus modern values that was dividing the nation

44. Literature • The conflict and concern created by changing American values also saw expression in literature • American writers of the 1920s protested the effects of technology and mass consumption • They criticized the business mentality, the conformity of the times, and the preoccupation with material things • Some writers such as Ernest Hemingway, became expatriates, leaving the US to settle in Europe • Often called the Lost Generation, these writers of the twenties produced some of the most enduring works of American literature

45. Harlem Renaissance • One of the most important cultural movements of the 1920s was the Harlem Renaissance, led by a group of African American writers in the New York City neighborhood of Harlem • These creative intellectual figures – mainly well-educated members of the middle class – felt alienated from the society of the 1920s • In their works they called for action against bigotry and expressed pride in African American culture and identity • Outstanding literary figures of the Harlem Renaissance include W.E.B. Du Bois, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, and Alain Locke

46. Harlem Renaissance • The Great Depression of the 1930s ended the Harlem Renaissance, cutting the sales of books and literary magazines • However, during the civil rights movement of the 1960s, the writers of Harlem Renaissance and their works attracted renewed interest

47. Harlem Renaissance

48. Harlem Renaissance • African American artists, musicians, and dancers also participated in the Harlem Renaissance • Black musicians in the South blended elements of African, European, and American music to create the distinctive sounds of jazz and the blues • This music was carried all over the country and abroad

49. Harlem Renaissance • Edward K. “Duke” Ellington is one of the towering figures in jazz • Ellington recorded and composed music, performed on the piano, and conducted his own orchestra until his death in 1974 • Bessie Smith, known as the “Empress of the Blues,” was one of the most popular singers of the 1920s • This new music, to which people danced such daring new steps as the Charleston, became so popular that the period of the 1920s is often called the Jazz Age

50. Women’s Changing Roles The conflict between modern and traditional values in the 1920s also found expression in the contradictory roles of women Women’s Suffrage • In 1920, the Nineteenth Amendment was ratified, giving women the right to vote • This movement began in 1848 at Seneca Falls, NY and was led by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Susan B. Anthony Women in the Workforce • Throughout the 1920s, the number of women in the workforce increased steadily, by 1930 10.7 million women were working outside the home, making up 22 percent of the workforce • By 1930, women earned 40% of bachelor degrees awarded, and became teachers, nurses, and social workers – traditional female occupations • Changes in technology and scientific management created opportunities for women in white-collar and service industry jobs – secretaries, salespeople, telephone operators, and beauticians – these low-paying, low-status, and low-mobility occupations were labeled “female only,” allowing women to be hired in these positions even during hard times